Can Democracy prevail in this test?

So I only get like 2.5 channels on my little TV. I was able to watch my favorite show last night, "American Idol". During a few commercial breaks, I was able to catch a few minute here and a minute there of some program on PBS. I'm not sure if it was Front Line or NOVA. It was a segment showcasing the lately prototypes of "Green" cars. I flipped over there a couple times and those couple times were very profound.

First time I caught a snippet----------- There are 800 million cars in the world. Lined up, it would circle the earth 100 times. The debate if their is Gobal Warming is over. The debate is how and when it will effect the earth.

Second Snippet I caught-------The auto industry will not switch over to greener technology. The decision to switch over to a greener technology will be up to the consumer or the government. Since the auto industry is reluctant to switch because of cost and profit and the oil industry...it would be up to a government to mandate something.


So this whole thing got me thinking of the bigger picture. Democracy, communism, facism...whatever type of government you name...how successful it is depends on the economic power of the country.

My personally choice is Democracy. However, this crisis may showcase an example where democracy may not rise to the occasion!

All politicians, from the President down to your local councilman, make decisions based on money. It took President Obama over 1 billion dollars to get elected. The elected official must answer to the money and the people who gave those money to get him elected.

Will there be a President who is strong is enough to Mandate (a future date) a ban on all gasoline car? Millions of jobs will be transformed or lost. Gas stations industry will be lost. It would be a political disaster!!

However, our government does not mandage our ban on gasoline cars, the Earth will force it upon us. At some point, Climate Change will/maybe get so dangerous where it will force our hand to convert.

At that point, it would be too late.

A King . A person not elected and must answer to money..can make this decision. Well, I'm going to have to clairify. A Just and Wise King. Those are hard to find. Power corrupts.

So this is a great test of the United States. Democracy has been wonderful. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. But will a leader emerge that will be willing to make such a hard decision?

Some may argue that transforming America off gasoline engines will not help very much. The rest of the world will still smog up the air with gas cars. But If you invent it and build it, the rest of the world follow. Someone has to take the lead. And if we are the most powerful country in the world, we have to be the leader in this.


We had the Bronze Age, Industrial Age, The Information Age really leaped us exponantially in our standard of living.

The next Age will be the Transportation Age.